Scientists and journalists call on Harper to end gag order

DOUGLAS QUAN
Postmedia News

VANCOUVER — Groups representing scientists and science writers sent an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Friday calling on his government to stop “muzzling” federal researchers.

Attendees at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual conference heard numerous examples of alleged government interference and reporters being denied timely access to scientists.

Such control is sinking morale among scientists and denying the public access to important information about climate, agriculture and the environment, the conference heard.

“Why are we suppressing really good news to Canadians -—that is, successful science being done in federal government labs?” asked Andrew Weaver, a climate scientist at the University of Victoria. “Why don’t we open it up? There’s nothing to be feared but success.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States recently adopted a policy that encourages its scientists to talk freely to the media without an intermediary.

Under the new policy, scientists are allowed to express their own opinions, on the condition they make it clear that they are not speaking on behalf of the agency.

The letter addressed to the prime minister Friday urged the government to take a similar approach.

“Despite promises that your majority government would follow principles of accountability and transparency, federal scientists in Canada are still not allowed to speak to reporters without the `consent’ of media relations officers,” the letter read.

It was signed by several groups, including the Canadian Science Writers Association, World Federation of Science Journalists, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression and the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, the union that represents 23,000 federal scientists.

The Prime Minister’s Office referred questions Friday to the office of Gary Goodyear, minister of state for science and technology.

In an email, spokesman Jay Jacobson said the government’s communications policy is designed to ensure that “interviews or technical information on specialized subjects, are directed to knowledgeable managers or staff designated to speak as official representatives.”

He added that science-based departments and agencies produce publications – available to the public — highlighting research activities and findings.

“As well, public web portals, such as the Science and Technology for Canadians website, have been developed to communicate information on federally funded science and technology directly to Canadians.”

One of the presenters at the conference was Postmedia News senior science writer Margaret Munro.

Munro described how, in the past, reporters could get interviews with government scientists within an hour of submitting a request.

That began to change in late 2007, she said, when Environment Canada issued a new “media relations protocol” that required scientists to refer media inquiries first to communications officers, who would help craft responses to reporters’ questions.

“Just as we have `one department, one website’ we should have `one department, one voice,’ ” reads an internal document later uncovered by Munro.

Despite an editorial in the influential British journal Nature condemning the policy, the policy spread to other science-based departments.

Munro described reporters’ frustration in January 2011 when they were denied interviews with Kristi Miller, a scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. She was the lead author of a study published in the journal Science that examined the decline of salmon stocks on the West Coast.

Even though reporters were told that a media officer with the department would help them set up interviews, the Privy Council Office stepped in and blocked all interviews.

The office said at the time that it was concerned Miller’s comments could influence an ongoing judicial inquiry into declines of Fraser River sockeye salmon.

The same thing happened in October 2011. A team of researchers published a report in Nature about an “unprecedented” hole that opened up in the ozone layer above the Arctic.

But when reporters tried to interview David Tarasick, an Environment Canada researcher on the team, they were turned down.

It wasn’t until a few weeks later that Environment Canada said Tarasick was available for interviews.

“I’m available when media relations says I’m available,” he said at the time. “I have to go through them.”

Munro said Friday she knows some reporters who don’t bother approaching the federal government anymore to talk to scientists.

“This is frustrating for scientists and incredibly frustrating for journalists,” she said.